Chapter 261 - The Aftermath of a Double-Cross

Gaven sighed helplessly, "It seems that my plan to enlighten more treants in the surrounding area must be abandoned. I’ll have to find another way."After the turmoil with the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, let alone her vicinity, there probably aren’t many suitable trees left in the entire Spring Bud Forest that could awaken as treants.

"This sort of thing inherently has its pros and cons," said Virginia, her face also showing a hint of helplessness, "The Dragon Oak Mother Tree has unleashed all the war potential of the Spring Bud Forest. Within a hundred years, it’s unlikely that any other treants will awaken."

"Then, like I said before, don’t fixate on one location. Start from other directions." Gaven’s mood shifted quickly, "If I were to ask you to give up on the War Giant Tree and return the Spring Bud Forest to its previous state, would you do it?"

"Of course not, only a fool would do that," Virginia’s face showed a flicker of playfulness.

"That’s settled then," said Gaven with a smile, "Let’s not be ungrateful when we are benefiting. What is most important now is to hasten the defensive construction of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree. The commotion we’ve just caused is no small matter—it won’t be safe if the enemies of the Spring Bud Forest decide to destroy the War Giant Tree before it can move."

Hearing this, Virginia’s expression turned serious and she nodded, "It’s not a matter of safety but a certainty. Especially the Foul Giants, so I’ve decided to abandon defense of the Spring Bud Fortress and concentrate all forces on the Dragon Oak Mother Tree. No matter how much of the Spring Bud Forest they consume, as long as the War Giant Tree is safe, once we figure out a way to get it moving, we will be able to reclaim everything."

Lord Virginia lacked neither decisiveness nor the reasons for holding out for so many years surrounded by Foul Giants and Ghost Witches.

"With such awareness on your part, nothing could be better," Gaven nodded, "Not just your side shifting into a defensive state, but my side will also enter a development silent period. The majority of the Gnolls we’ll continue to expand will be diverted into the War Giant Tree. Luckily, its body contains a sufficiently vast Dark Domain to accommodate thirty to fifty thousand Gnolls living without any issue."

"The enemy you’ve provoked this time, are they that problematic?" Virginia originally thought that Gaven would just hide out in the Fairy Wilderness for a few days and be done, but now even the developmental strategy had to be adjusted.

"This matter has become the fire starter, prematurely igniting the clash between the two factions within the Santarin Association. The great leader of the Santarin Association, Manson, is now leaning toward the Shylock Faction. They’re conducting a massacre of Bane Followers within Santiel Fortress.

Compared to the losses suffered by Manson, the Bane Followers are now even more desperate to find the whereabouts of that cargo to prove their innocence. The Rocklands are rife with their spies, who are suspicious of every power, including ours.

Therefore, in the short term, we should not display too much strength."

Gaven, who had been hiding out in the Fairy Wilderness, paid close attention to the situation outside, especially towards the Santarin Association. There was no need to plant spies; some big news has wings and spreads throughout the entire Hartland Region. The merchants from Blackwell, with their sharp noses, bring a lot of news.

He hadn’t expected that his own actions against the Santarin Association’s expansion in the Rocklands would stir up the main body of the Santarin Association itself, causing the Bane massacre that was supposed to happen next year to be prematurely executed.

Nevertheless, the lead characters hadn’t changed; it was still Shylock worshippers led by "Shenor*Jingbin," moving through the dark and twisted streets of Santiel Fortress, attempting to cleanse the city of all Bane Followers.

The Bane Followers were given two choices: either convert to Shylock or personally explain to Shylock why he was not worthy of worship.

However, the same event, bursting forth at different times, led to different outcomes.

Shylock’s followers were just starting out, and their power was far from as great as imagined.

And Bane had just fallen, his followers still vast in number, especially their influence in Santiel Fortress, which was deeper than imagined.

Manson hadn’t had the time to secretly move the main body of the Dark Intelligence Network from Santiel Fortress to Raven Fortress in the Giant Dragon Ridge Mountains.

So, the one-sided massacre that Gaven remembered didn’t happen; it turned into a civil war within Santiel Fortress.

Shylock worshippers clashed with Bane Followers, spilling brains on the streets and severely disrupting the operations of the Dark Intelligence Network.

And sizable trading groups like Crimson Feather were just waiting eagerly.

If the Dark Intelligence Network showed even the slightest sign of weakness, these predators would surge forth, gnawing away at the territory previously occupied by them.

Apart from the Blackroute that cuts across Enorok Great Desert, which was special and difficult for outsiders to interfere with,

The Moon Sea Road through the Kosoman Great Forest and the maritime routes of the Moon Sea were overtaken in just less than ten days, their clientele snatched away by more than a third.

Faced with this situation, everyone in the Santarin Association was frantic.

Manson had no choice but to join forces with Bane’s High Priest, Bozor, forcefully suppressing the riot.

The first Bane massacre ended feebly.

What was meant to be Shylock’s chance to reap a swath of Bane’s worshippers, boosting his fame to an unprecedented peak in preparation for the second Bane massacre, had all dissipated into nothing.

With this bloody lesson, the remaining Bane Followers would certainly be more than prepared. Functioning a blade against them would not be as easy as before.

This situation naturally pleased Gaven. After all, Shylock was the designated future assassin of the Magic Goddess. The weaker his strength became, the more advantageous it was for Gaven’s plans. If he could diminish Shylock’s strength to the point where he posed no threat to the Magic Goddess, it would save Gaven a lot of trouble.

Of course, this was just wishful thinking. If the course of history could be changed so easily, then matters would be simple.

Lord Virginia eyed him suspiciously, "This isn’t like you. Just the Santarin Association has you scared like this? Is there another reason?"

Gaven was momentarily startled, then chuckled, "Nothing gets past you. Even without the Santarin Association, it’s time to slow down the pace of development in the Dragon Oak Territory."

"Let’s hear it," Lord Virginia said with an I-knew-it look.

"The larger our scale, the larger the scale of enemies we have to face. Minor skirmishes were previously overlooked by the big forces and high-end mages—they didn’t come looking for trouble. But once we exceed a certain volume and they start to envy us, that’s another story. The Gnolls are, after all, a foreign power, and the Komeer Kingdom might turn a blind eye or even be a silent supporter."

Gaven’s dark life experiences with the Santarin Association had shaped his worldview. He always approached things from the darkest, most malevolent angle, suspiciously interpreting people’s intentions.

Especially when there was a conflict of interest. Most of the time, his perspective proved to be accurate.

Now it’s the perfect time for him to hide his cleverness.

Though the Dragon Oak Territory could create considerable value and draw the attention of relevant figures—like the visit from Feng Geda Hast—

it wasn’t enough to make the great nobles or even the Legendary Mages covetous enough to tear off their disguises and fight him for it.

"In your eyes, are all people’s hearts dark?" Lord Virginia somewhat failed to understand Gaven’s approach in this regard.

Gaven replied seriously, "More precisely, in my eyes, the hearts of those I don’t know or understand are dark, until I can personally verify that they are not, like yours."

"You sure have a lot of twisted logic," Lord Virginia said with a touch of coyness on her beautiful face. What was clearly a twisted line of reasoning was somehow turned by Gaven into a kind of flirtatious remark, "But you need to think carefully about the food situation. Once I retract my defenses, most of the Spring Bud Forest will fall to the Foul Giants, and we will be hard-pressed for our own food supplies, let alone support you. One day, we may even need your support."

"Hehe..." Gaven chuckled with smug satisfaction.

His laugh made Lord Virginia bristle, and she involuntarily hugged her chest, saying, "What are you laughing about? I absolutely will not repay you in that way when the time comes."

"(⊙o⊙)..." Gaven’s laughter abruptly ceased, and he stared dumbfounded, "Hey, where did your mind go to?"

Lord Virginia’s face blushed to the roots of her neck, and she stammered, "You... you... didn’t you mean that?"

"Of course not," Gaven said with righteous indignation, "Given our current relationship, if I made you pay in that way, wouldn’t I be at a colossal loss, down to my last pair of underpants?"

"You..." Lord Virginia, grinding her teeth with anger, pinched a soft spot on Gaven and twisted hard—a move that came to her completely naturally.

Gaven, while enduring the pain, explained, "I was laughing at how, before, you didn’t want to farm, but now you don’t have a choice not to farm. Look below, isn’t that a vast natural farmland? I guarantee, whatever is planted will grow, and it will thrive significantly at that."

Lord Virginia followed the circle Gaven had gestured to with his finger and her eyes lit up involuntarily.

When the Dragon Oak Mother Tree uprooted itself and transformed into a war state, its size greatly diminished and so did the space it occupied. The sudden emergence of so many Treants and Enlightened Trees indeed left vast empty areas.

Gaven dared to make the bold statement that whatever was planted would flourish because here, everything had been nourished by the Life Force scattered by the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, persisting for a decade or eight years at the least.

"Not only can this area be cultivated, but crops can also be grown on and even inside the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, including various mushrooms. This area alone is enough to meet the internal needs of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree." Gaven was always very enthusiastic about persuading Lord Virginia to take up farming.

Ultimately, it was because she had unique advantages—not just because she had a large number of Druids at her disposal, but also due to her special synergy with the Fairy Wilderness. When farming, she enjoyed conveniences that others lacked.

Once she decided to join this promising industry, it would be like having an excellent breeding base. Advancing farming elsewhere would then be much easier.

As the situation evolved, so did Lord Virginia’s thoughts.

At their initial meeting, Gaven spoke at length about the ways of farming, and she just smiled and listened politely, somewhat amused, after all, he was a novice preaching to the choir.

As their alliance strengthened, she wasn’t opposed to the idea, nor overly supportive—just relinquishing the rights to recruit the Fae Race but not actively assisting Gaven was telling enough.

As their relationship deepened, she offered some support out of courtesy—fundamentally, she remained unreceptive.

But this time, Virginia was finally swayed.

This shift was a combination of multiple factors converging together. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt

Firstly, farming within the Dragon Oak Mother Tree itself was essential—being a strategic weapon of war, it had to have its own internal cycle and couldn’t solely rely on the outside supplies.

Secondly, Gaven’s previous idea to Virginia about bringing in a large number of the Fae Race from the outside also required food support.

If it was about clearing forests to create farmland, Virginia would have outright disagreed.

But to cultivate food crops on the ready-made open land, that might be possible.